Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Was quite inspired by your post Cheesy, so tell me..

always wanted a 1956 gun, same year model as me! I think 870s came out in early 50s. would love to own a Model 31 which preceded the 870. I already have a Model 17 which were only made in 20 gauge, mine is a 4 digit S/N so maybe a 1923 model.

Note the PM

Got it thank you.

Anything marked "Wingmaster" is what to look for as they are finished to a greater degree than the Express. The classic Wingmaster will also have a gloss finished walnut stock rather than some non-descript hardwood as well as a glossy blue finish on the metal. The steels used in the 870 are steel safe with all chokes of Modified or more open. A Full choke can be opened for a reasonable cost or a replacement barrel can be bought for not much more.

The Wingmaster may be a "better" gun due to finish but an Express is just as functional. The grittiness upon working the action smooths out with use and the matte finish is less likely to cause unwanted reflections. I've owned and used Expresses as well as Wingmasters and can't recommend one over the other. I would go with a used Wingmaster over a new Express as the used gun could go for considerably less depending on condition and price is more a factor to me.

I would say that about 10 birds die around here each fall out of 870 Expresses compared to one for everything else (not my family but everybody and their brother uses one).

If you used to use an Ithaca pump, then go find yourself another one. So long as it has a "Roto-Forged" barrel above 855,000 serial number, then it will be fine for steel shot.

Either get an ImpCyl or Modified.

Use Federal WingShok red box from Rogers Sporting Goods, or Federal Blue Box from anywhere. Ithacas like them.

#2 steel for all ducks
#BB for all geese

We put a bunch of ducks in the bag this year with the Ithacas. Still the easiest-to-use pump ever made.

My Ithaca 37 went out with the robbery...sucks.

But I'd be thrilled with another..mine was 2 3/4"... like to get one for 3"

They made 3" Ithaca 37 at Ithaca and King's Ferry and Sandusky.

All of the Ithaca 87 models were 3" also.

For any of the non-Ohio guns, if the serial number begins with the letters "MAG" then it shoots 3" shells. That applies to both 12 and 20 gauges.

One thing to be aware of, is that the 3" guns add a good half pound to the overall weight. They go from a nimble upland weapon to a typical "all-around" pump. But they sure lose that mojo that makes them feel special.

We've gone back to the shorter receivers for the better balance except when absolutely necessary for 3", which usually means geese around here.

That begs the question, is 3" needed for most Waterfowling or could a fellow do just fine with a 2 3/4" ?

We find that we do fine with 2.75" but it is difficult to find good steel in that size anymore.

Kent Faststeel has some pretty good loads at that length.

Do you guys find it worth it to roll your own ?

Not worth it for steel, IMO.

But if you want to get into Tungsten Super Shot, then yes roll your own.

Gotcha.!

Thanks.

I’ll contradict all the 870 talk. Most of your wing masters will be 2 3/4”. By time you buy a remchoke barrel and plastic stock you will have spent more than a Beneli Nova costs.
A nova is built better, of better materials, will take 3 1/2” shells, comes in camo, has a much better recoil pad, and stock fit shims. Break down and assembly is the same as the 870.

Yes, it’s clunky feeling compared to a nice light and nimble Wingmaster.

But it suffers from the benelli death click.

Benelli sbe2, 3 or 3.5 inch #2 for late season, 3s for early

Lots of love for the Benellis I see..

I generally use 3" shells for all my waterfowl use but that is mainly due to the price break when I buy in quantity. The shorter shells are only a dollar a box less and I can beat that buying in quantity after he season ends. There may be some shorter shells around then but they are picked over and not what I want. 3" shells are still plentiful and in good selection. I have over a flat of reloaded short shells left from cleaning up my reloading components. These are 1 oz of #3 shot which were my favorite duck loads for field shooting. This is a somewhat specialized load which is why I still have a number of them left.

I used to reload steel shells but no longer. Steel is considerably less tolerant than lead and one needs to be exact or problems arise. For safest results one should hand weigh every powder and shot charge as the powder used at the time (Alliant Steel) is very bulky and does not meter well. Kind of the same goes for the shot, too heavy and pressures can rise drastically.

This is in addition to the realatively high cost of steel shot, higher cost of the specialty wads used for steel shot, and somewhat higher cost of powder. The large quantities used by factories allow them to load at a much lower cost. The differential is not worth the bother in my book. When I started loading 25 years ago it made sense as factory steel loads were rather poor but they soon caught up to what could be done at home.

I don't reload much of the other non-toxics as I use so little of them. I haven't seen a need for them in the 12 and 10 ga but in the smaller bores it is pretty much mandatory. For them buying a box now and then as I find decent pricing has been more economical. Other than bismuth, most of the other non-toxics use more expensive steel shot wads along with the higher price shot. I would have to weigh out the shot charge as with steel which is not something I wish to bother with.

IMO benelli’s are the king of waterfowl hunting.

I used to duck hunt quite a bit and haven't in the last 8 years or so. Something I intend to remedy in the next year. I also miss being part of the DU committee. Had a lot of fun with that in years past.

Winchester Super X2 shooting 3 inch Kent Faststeel in BB IIRC. I bought a case of 3.5's for snows one year, lit off 6 of those as fast as I can pull the trigger and never did another. I don't need 3.5, probably don't need 3 inch but it works pretty good.

That Winchester has been abused. Used mostly for ducks, coyote, geese and the occasional rabbit. Always in the water, little field hunting. I also ran quite a bit of clays through it - realistically, it has 5-6000 rounds through it and I can't remember a single hiccup. Certainly never put parts into it at all.

As for practice - back then I was shooting 10,000+ rounds of 12, and another 5-8000 rounds combined of 20,28,410 in sporting clays a summer. I didn't practice specifically for duck hunting but the clay work helped. I had friends that did minimal to little practice would get pissed. We'd be hunting blue bills - I'd fire twice and collect my limit. They'd be a box and a half through and have nothing. I'm a firm believer in some sort of practice with a repeatable move, mount and shoot type of habit. It doesn't matter what you're shooting for a shell IMO for practice as people don't miss by inches, they miss by feet IME.

Like Tom264 said "IMO benelli’s are the king of waterfowl hunting"
Second would be a Beretta A400 extreme.